Trigger-happy New Year

Unload the stresses of 2005 at a shooting range.

By Forrest Caskey

It's almost over! The annual end-of-the-year aneurysm of marathon shopping-sprees, holiday parties, arduous flights home, long waits in the return line to exchange Mom's snowflake-speckled sweater, and a champagne-induced hangover still bubbling around the rafters of your cerebrum has left you drained and hungover with a case of the holiday blues. Once the New Year approaches, the holiday hullabaloo will be falling around you like confetti, your new job being to sweep up the mess and start anew.

Typical San Franciscan methods of dealing with stress, such as yoga, meditation, spa days, and sex clubs, may not be the catharsis you are looking for. Not everyone in the Bay Area can find inner peace by reaching a child's pose from a downward-facing dog.

This year try something new and unconventional to shake off the postmortem holiday blues by ending the year with a bang! Literally. Scattered around the bay are some local shooting ranges open year-round that provide the caliber of release you're looking for.

Okay, granted, guns do bad things. Such bad things that handguns have recently been banned throughout the city. But despite the bad reputation, responsible and controlled shooting – at inanimate objects, that is – has some holistic effects similar to those of standing in a steam room in the lotus position.

"The holidays are always a stressful time for me. Coming to the range just sort of takes the anger out of my body without hurting anything," shooter Emily Spillett says after a recent visit to Bullseye Shooting Range (1281 Anderson, San Rafael. 415-453-7465, www.bullseyerange.com).

Bullseye is an indoor facility offering gun rentals and private shooting lanes for $12. Besides providing the equipment and the space, Bullseye operates as Marin County's firearm education center, offering a variety of classes such as permit courses, gun safety lessons, and concealed weapon instructions.

Bullseye firearm safety instructor Henry Hernandez emphasizes the importance of firearm safety classes while touching on the therapeutic effects of shooting: "Before picking up a gun, you ought to be familiar with what you are using. You don't get behind a car [wheel] without ever learning how to drive one. [Shooting] involves total concentration and removes you from yourself. It's a great way to relieve stress in this way."

Nestled a little closer to San Francisco, Jackson Arms Shooting Range (710 Dubuque, South San Francisco. 650-588-4209, www.jacksonarms.com) also charges $12 per private lane, as well as keeping its activities indoors. Renting handguns, low-caliber rifles, and shotguns at a variety of prices, Jackson Arms goes one step further than Bullseye does by offering beginner and refresher courses to first-time and novice gun users. Costing $40, a beginner course includes the handgun rental, 100 rounds of ammunition, 2 targets, and eye and ear protection while teaching safety measures, firearm nomenclature, and shooting skills.

Lone rangers should take note: Due to safety concerns, firearms are only rented out to groups of two or more, so don't forget to bring a sidekick.

Just a short BART ride away, the San Leandro Rifle and Pistol Range (3001 Davis, San Leandro. 510-638-9605) offers one of the Bay Area's only indoor and outdoor shooting ranges. Stand-and-deliver purists beware: You have to remain seated while firing, as only bench shooting is allowed. Wooden barriers are secured to prevent anyone from standing up and fulfilling a Grand Theft Auto fantasy.

Tucked away in the serene environs of San Francisco's Lake Merced, for 83 years Pacific Rod and Gun Club (520 John Muir, SF. 415-586-8349, www.prgc.net) has been providing shotgun owners with a scenic place to play. The club is private, but it opens its ranges to the public from 11 a.m to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and on weekends.

Lake Merced offers the perfect setting for Pacific Rod and Gun's featured activity, trap-and-skeet shooting. Instead of just firing at a paper depiction of a man's torso or a bull's-eye, trap and skeet allows you to shoot at discs soaring through the air over the lake. Duck hunters use trap-and-skeet to hone their moving-target shooting skills, but even for those less bloodthirsty, this sporting activity can purge end-of-the-year stress.

So go ahead and pull the trigger, just don't aim it at the living.

Forrest Caskey is a culture intern at the Bay Guardian.